Birth
Birth is the second chapter of Journey. Chapter Two: Birth The stars shined down on the odd group as they sat around a campfire. Tsuyoshi sat awkwardly as he watched Hotaru and Satoru chowing down on food from a large bag. Izumi sat next to Hotaru and was eating a sandwich. The only one unaccounted for was the kid Akio, who had left for a walk an hour ago. Tsuyoshi flinched as Hotaru asked, “So Tsuyoshi you look like you have some questions?” “Well…I do have a couple to be honest,” Tsuyoshi answered. “Like is it true that you all are Elementalists?” Satoru and Izumi gazed at each other as though they were having a non-verbal conversation with each other. Izumi sighed as Satoru nodded. “We you already saw us in action,” Izumi muttered as her arms began to glow with a blue light. She reached over and grabbed Tsuyoshi’s fishing pole. For a moment the fishing pole glowed blue too. When the light disappeared, the fishing pole was gone…and a stack of papers laid were the pole once was. “NO! NOT MY POLE,” Tsuyoshi shriek as he clutched the papers. After another burst of blue light, Tsuyoshi was holding onto his fishing pole again. Izumi giggled at Tsuyoshi’s dumbstruck face. “I’m a Matter Elementalist. I’m capable of reconstructing and deconstructing objects. I was the one who made that metal wall to save you.” Satoru raised his arm as an arc of electricity flowed across it. “As you probably can guess, I’m and Electric Elementalist and my brother Hotaru is a Fire Elementalist.” “That’s so cool,” Tsuyoshi remarked. “Do you think I have what it takes to become an Elementalist?” Hotaru laughed. “Dude it takes years to become an Elementalist. It took Satoru and I seven years to wield our elements and it was even longer for Izumi.” Izumi blushed. “Oh please. I know that you’re well aware that I was learning with my parents before,” She muttered, but she paused as though she remembered unpleasant. The air around the fire got uncomfortable as the trio looked depressed. Tsuyoshi coughed and asked, “What about Akio?” “I have no interest in becoming an Elementalist,” a voice from above answered. The group looked up and saw Akio standing on a tree branch. “I’m more of a swordsman.” “How long have you been up there you creep,” Hotaru barked! “I’ve been here since the beginning of your conversation.” Well that’s creepy, Tsuyoshi thought. “So what exactly brings you guys all the way out here?” Satoru answered, “Well the thing is...we are on our way to the capital. We’re searching for some people who we miss as well as going to see one of our teacher’s old friend.” “I see. But let’s talk about being an Elementalist. Hotaru couldn’t you have fried all of those criminals at once?” Suddenly, Hotaru stood up and grabbed Tsuyoshi by his shirt collar. “Is that supposed to be some kind of joke? Or do you think taking someone’s life is funny?” He threw the terrified Tsuyoshi to the ground and stormed off. Izumi looked confused and asked, “What was that all about? I’ve only seen Hotaru act like that once before…and under completely different circumstances.” Satoru sighed sadly. “I know why…but I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone about it.” As the pair began bombarding Satoru, trying to get the answer out of him, Akio leapt down from the tree to follow Hotaru. Hotaru stood on a dock staring at the moon’s reflection in the water. He stared sadly as the memories of that horrible person and his actions flowed through his mind. “Why…why did I have to do it,” he asked out loud. “You had no other choice,” Akio said, as he stepped onto the dock. “Besides if you hadn’t then the others would have injured even worse.” Hotaru didn’t answer but continued to stare at the dark water as his mind began to replay his life from after that incident. An eight year old Hotaru and his six year old brother stood outside a crooked house deep within the woods. “You sure this is the place,” Satoru nervously asked, hiding behind his older brother. “This is the place that Granny Mabel said that guy lives,” Hotaru remarked as he opened the door. The brothers entered the house and noticed the messy interior for a few seconds as a book slammed into Hotaru’s face. Hotaru groaned and rubbed the bruise mark that remained on his face and barked, “What the hell was that for!” “Oh it’s my young protégé and his older brother,” a calm voice said from out of view. “I thought it was an intruder…my bad.” “Sir where are you,” Satoru asked from behind his ticked off brother. “Under here.” The voice came from beneath a mountain of books. With much haste, Satoru scrambled over and began shuffling books to the side to save the guy. Meanwhile, Hotaru stood their thinking, if he was buried under a pile of books…then how did he manage to throw the book? After being saved from suffocation via books, the young adult glanced at the brothers, “Ah yes thanks for saving me. From now on you shall remark me as Master ACTN! Now then onto business,” he remarked as he clasped his hands. The trio made their way down to the basement which was much more spacious than the upstairs as well as way cleaner. “If I remember correctly, you can conjure flames,” ACTN asked Hotaru. Hotaru remembered the incident and nodded. “Well make sure you read this book then,” ACTN said as he handed Hotaru a book. “Read this and it will help you control your powers.” “…Um sir…I don’t think this is the right book,” Satoru said with a deadpan voice as Hotaru was suffering from a nosebleed. “Nonsense. I would never hand over a wrong book,” ACTN boldly remarked as he grabbed the book back and stared at the cover. Suddenly, ACTN too got a nosebleed as he stared at the cover which was a picture of a young lady relaxing on the beach. “Right…I shall hold onto this instead!” “You’re supposed to be our teacher you perv,” Hotaru asked as he wiped the blood of his face. Ignoring Hotaru’s remark, ACTN cleared his throat. “Okay now then Satoru before we begin our training, you must remember that the five types of elements. The three most commons types are Solid, Liquid, and Gas. Then the others are either Plasma or classified as Other.” “My brother’s element would be classified as a Plasma element,” Satoru began. “So that means that it’s likely for my element to be a Plasma element as well.” “Correct. But a word of caution before we continue,” ACTN warned. “Plasma Elementalists are the rarest type as well as the most dangerous. You must always remain alert and keep your powers in control otherwise the results could be disastrous and most likely fatal...so No Pressure!” Both brothers clutched each other in fear after hearing ACTN’s comment. He grinned and said, “And on that note, let the training begin!” Two years have passed since the brothers began their training. Hotaru and Satoru made their way to the lake where they met up with their friends, Akio and Izumi. “Geez what took you guys so long,” Izumi asked? “It’s not our fault that you guys got here early,” Hotaru snapped back. Akio softly said, “I brought the canoes. So let’s do this.” Satoru got into one of the canoe as Akio pushed it into the water. “Now no messing around you two,” Akio smirked as he hopped into the canoe. Izumi blushed as Hotaru stood their confused. Soon the two were in their canoe and paddling on their way. Hotaru looked back and saw Izumi looking disheartened. “What’s up,” He asked as he stopped moving the oars. “Nothing…it’s just it’s been a month since my parents vanished from the capital,” Izumi whispered, as tears emerged from her eyes. “I miss them…and I don’t know what to do.” Hotaru shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Well…you now if you miss them that much why don’t you go find them?” She looked shocked at him. “Go searching for them all by myself?” Hotaru turned to face her. “Of course not! I will be by your side every step of the way...why do you think I’ve been practicing this all this time,” he said as he summoned fire to emerge on his fingertips. Izumi wiped her tears and asked, “But what’s in it for you?” Hotaru’s face turned into a sarcastic grin. “Remember the promise I made you? There’s that as well as…I don’t like seeing you upset okay?” Unexpectedly, Izumi lunged at Hotaru and gave him a big hug. “Thank you Hotaru…thanks for cheering me up.” Hotaru’s face turned red and he croaked, “Your welcome…but we now have a slight issue.” “What is it,” she asked as she pulled away. “You knocked the oars out of the canoe.” Both of them looked horrified as the oars floated away, leaving the pair stranded. Back into the presence, Hotaru laughed out loud. Akio asked, “What’s so funny?” Hotaru turned around and grinned. “Nothing…I just was remembering the birth of our journey!” Trivia Category:Chapters